Vacuum bottle holders



23, 1955 D. F. WIEDERSPAN ET AL 2,760,668

VACUUM BOTTLE HOLDERS Filed May 12, 1952 VACUUM BOTTLE HOLDERS.

Donald F. 'Wiederspan and William R. Molar, Denver, Colo.

Application May 12, 1952, Serial No. 287,308

2 Claims. (Cl. 215-100) This invention relates to a portable table stand for vacuum bottles of the thermos type, and has for its principal object the provision of a neat, attractive, and inexpensive stand which can be quickly and easily applied to a conventional vacuum bottle without the use of tools, and which will securely, safely and resiliently support the thermos bottle in a vertical position and provide a convenient pouring handle for the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide means which will automatically open and close the vacuum bottle as the latter is tilted to and from the pouring position.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. l -is a plan view of the improved vacuum bottle stand, with a conventional vacuum bottle in place there Fig. 2 is a side view of the improved stand with its supported bottle;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the improved stand with the bottle removed therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a detail section through a bottle cup employed in this invention, the section being taken on the line 44, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a bottle cup which may be used with the improved stand. In Fig. 5 the bottle cup is illustrated to show one half as a cross-section, and the other half as a side view of the cup.

In the drawing a conventional thermos bottle is indicated at 10, with its neck at 11.

The improved vacuum bottle stand is formed from three lengths of resiliently flexible metal rod. One length of the metal rod is arcuately bent to form an annular neck-encircling ring 12, of suflicient diameter to freely encircle the neck 11 of the bottle 10. A plurality of perforated, circular, rubber cushion discs 13 surround the rod forming the neck ring 12 at spaced intervals.

The second length of rod is arcuately bent to form an open, circular, C-shaped base ring 14 of suflicient diameter to partially encircle the conventional rounded base of the bottle 10. The base ring 14 is also provided with a plurality of similar perforated rubber cushion discs 15 to prevent damage to the bottle 10. The open side of the base ring is positioned forwardly.

The third length of rod is bent back upon itself at its middle to form two parallel portions. The bend joining the parallel rods is welded or otherwise secured to the neck ring 12, as indicated at 16. The parallel rod portions then extend horizontally rearward for a relatively short distance to form an upper bracket 17, thence extend States Patent G in parallel relation rearwardly and downwardly to form an inclined handle portion 18.

The two rods forming the handle portion 18 are arcuately curved at their lower extremities to form rear feet 22 thence extend in separated, V-shaped relation to form two diagonal brace portions 19. A bend is formed at the upper extremity of each diagonal brace portion and the extremities of the latter extend forwardly, downwardly and outwardly to form two front leg members 20.

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.When the stand is released, the bottle is placed under longitudinal compression, so as to hold it securely in place supported in a vertical position bythe two legs 20 andv the rear foot 22.

The stand may be used as above described, without further additions or attachments. However, it is preferred to employ a bottle cup 29, molded from plastic or similar material, to enclose the bottom of the vacuum bottle. The cup has a contour and diameter to snugly enclose the entire bottom of the bottle, and is provided with a rounded protuberance or socket 28 to receive the conventional evacuating neck through which the bottle was exhausted, and which projects from the bottoms of all standard vacuum bottles.

The cup 29 and the protuberance 28 preferably contrast in color with the bottle and enhance the appearance of the entire assembly. They also serve to protect the bottom of the bottle and its evacuating neck from damage. The open forward portion of the base ring provides a passage for the bottle cup while the bottle is being removed and replaced.

The contents of the bottle will be subjected to rapid heat exchange unless some means are provided for closing the bottle neck. It is also necessary to provide a spout so that the contents of the bottle may be poured without spilling or dribbling. Both of these necessities are accomplished by means of a hollow, flat, pouring chamber 23 provided with a top opening 24 and a similar bottom opening. An angular, resilient gasket member 25 is mounted in the bottom opening and is adapted to be forced downwardly over the bottle neck 11 to frictionally engage the latter, as shown in Fig. 4. A pouring spout 27 extends forwardly from the pouring chamber 23 and provides a discharge therefor.

The top opening 24 in the chamber 23 surrounds a ball 26 which rests in and closes the neck 11 of the bottle 10, as shown in Fig. 4. When the bottle 10 is tilted forwardly, the ball 26 rolls from the neck 11 to the position indicated in broken line in Fig. 4, where it is retained in place by the upper portion of the pouring chamber 23. The fluid from the bottle, however, can flow freely around the ball and from the pouring spout 27. The ball rolls back into the neck of the bottle when the latter is returned to its vertical position, to automatically provide a seal therefor.

The ball 26 may be formed from any suitable material, such as hollow plastic, and the pouring chamber 23 is preferably formed from two similar plastic members cemented together.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A self-supporting container comprising: a verticallyelongated cylindrical bottle; a neck portion of less diameter than said bottle formed on and extending upwardly from the latter; a rounded bottom formed on said bottle; a completely closed neck-encircling ring of metal rod encircling said neck portion; a lower annular base ring of metal rod and of less diameter than said bottle encircling the rounded bottom thereof; two straight rod portions secured together and to said neck-encircling ring at their upper extremities and extending horizontally rearward from the latter ring to form bracket portions; handle portions formed in said rods, said handle portions consisting of the two rods lying together and extending downwardly and outwardly from said bracket portions; diagonal brace portions formed on said rods, said diagonal brace portions consisting of a portion on each rod extending from the lower extremity of the handle portions upwardly and forwardly to positions below said bottle,

the upper and inner extremities of the brace portions being secured to said base ring at opposite sides thereof so that the brace portions flare from the handle portion in V-shaped relation; and a leg portion on the extremity of each rod, said leg portions extending forwardly from said bottle and outwardly from each other to form two separated front supports for said bottle, the lower extremities of said handle portions forming a third support for said bottle, said handle portions acting to urge said neck-encircling ring and said base ring toward each other to clamp said bottle between said rings.

2. A self-supporting container as described in claim 1 in which the forward portion of the base ring is open to facilitate the insertion of the rounded bottom of said bottle therein, and having perforated resilient discs surrounding the rods forming the neck-encircling ring and the base ring and acting to space said rings from said bottle.

References Cited in thefile of this patent, UNITED STATES PATENTS 997,456 MacGregor July 11, 1911 1,029,414 Bennett June 11, 1912 1,079,192 Snowden Nov. 18, 1913 1,163,044 Stocum Dec. 7, 1915 1,430,525 Webber Sept. 26, 1922 1,913,587 Edwards June 13, 1933 2,081,292 Crossley May 25, 1937 2,099,629 Schaetzel Nov. 16, 1937 2,201,257 Bell Feb. 3, 1939 2,215,411 Sebring Sept. 17, 1940 2,281,135 Becker Apr. 28, 1942 Frank Apr. 29, 1947 

